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on 1 August 2014
I came at this, Caitlin Moran's first novel written as an adult, juddering all over the place with contradictory preconceptions. The title riffs off her bestselling non-fiction book! Would it just be a thinly-veiled book about a proto-Caitlin? But then her more focused, serious columns are shiningly good. Maybe there would be more of that? It was enough to make me WRITE ALL IN CAPS.
At the end of this book, I wanted to run out of my flat, find and hug teenage girls - inappropriate at any time, let alone in Camberwell at half eleven at night. Johanna Morrigan is a teenager who wants to be something. Or someone, she hasn't figured out who, but she knows it will involve writing, the one activity other than gloriously masturbating at any opportunity that she, as a properly poor girl, can do.
After assiduously listening to every music tape in her local library, she creates a new identity for herself as the elaborately eyelinered and mean Dolly Wilde, sends in sample reviews to the music magazine D&ME, and ends up as a completely naive stringer, filing reviews and, as she thinks it, supporting her family with work. But as Dolly's mean streak takes over, Johanna finds that her new persona might not be her ideal after all.
There is a no-nonsense disclaimer at the start that while Johanna Morrigan and Caitlin Moran share biographical details in common - Wolverhampton, large family on benefits, disabled father, precocious music journalism career, fatness, fondness for hats and having a lovely time wanking and shagging around - this is total fiction. That in itself feels like a whopper: I've read a number of interviews since in which Moran reveals great chunks of her own life that additionally match with Johanna's (the wearing of top hats, merrily declaring herself to be a "swashfuckler", giant, implausible penises), and while it would be amazing to have more Johanna and less Moran, there is still plenty to make it a hugely entertaining novel rather than a roman à fucklef.
Not least is the fact that Moran is just such a bloody good writer. As someone said recently, she's more than put in her 10,000 hours, and as a result some of the descriptions and lines are so beautiful you could sigh. And when she gets properly lost in her characters and forgets to Moranify them, it's a fantastic book, filled with humour, pathos and delightful characters - her family are wonderfully written, with a running gag that Johanna continually fails to identify her clearly gay brother's sexuality.
This feels like a bridging work between How To Be A Woman, her TV show Raised By Wolves and another, future novel that doesn't have Moran popping up behind the narrator to ask "How am I doing? Are you having fun?" In writing this, I hope she has found the confidence to go further, and leave what have become to feel like her security blankets behind. In the meantime, this book is a rare one that celebrates female coming of age without having sex as the demon in the corner.
At the end of this book, I wanted to run out of my flat, find and hug teenage girls - inappropriate at any time, let alone in Camberwell at half eleven at night. Johanna Morrigan is a teenager who wants to be something. Or someone, she hasn't figured out who, but she knows it will involve writing, the one activity other than gloriously masturbating at any opportunity that she, as a properly poor girl, can do.
After assiduously listening to every music tape in her local library, she creates a new identity for herself as the elaborately eyelinered and mean Dolly Wilde, sends in sample reviews to the music magazine D&ME, and ends up as a completely naive stringer, filing reviews and, as she thinks it, supporting her family with work. But as Dolly's mean streak takes over, Johanna finds that her new persona might not be her ideal after all.
There is a no-nonsense disclaimer at the start that while Johanna Morrigan and Caitlin Moran share biographical details in common - Wolverhampton, large family on benefits, disabled father, precocious music journalism career, fatness, fondness for hats and having a lovely time wanking and shagging around - this is total fiction. That in itself feels like a whopper: I've read a number of interviews since in which Moran reveals great chunks of her own life that additionally match with Johanna's (the wearing of top hats, merrily declaring herself to be a "swashfuckler", giant, implausible penises), and while it would be amazing to have more Johanna and less Moran, there is still plenty to make it a hugely entertaining novel rather than a roman à fucklef.
Not least is the fact that Moran is just such a bloody good writer. As someone said recently, she's more than put in her 10,000 hours, and as a result some of the descriptions and lines are so beautiful you could sigh. And when she gets properly lost in her characters and forgets to Moranify them, it's a fantastic book, filled with humour, pathos and delightful characters - her family are wonderfully written, with a running gag that Johanna continually fails to identify her clearly gay brother's sexuality.
This feels like a bridging work between How To Be A Woman, her TV show Raised By Wolves and another, future novel that doesn't have Moran popping up behind the narrator to ask "How am I doing? Are you having fun?" In writing this, I hope she has found the confidence to go further, and leave what have become to feel like her security blankets behind. In the meantime, this book is a rare one that celebrates female coming of age without having sex as the demon in the corner.
TOP 100 REVIEWERon 21 May 2015
4.5 stars
The author begins this book by saying emphatically that this story is NOT based on her own life or character. But if you know Moran's work through Raised by Wolves or her other non-fiction work How to Be a Woman, it feels instantly familiar and a smooth continuation of the same character’s story. Sorry Caitlin, but the subjects are so close to each other, the setting and happenings so similar, it's hard not to make the comparison. But that's not to the book's detriment. I loved it.
Johanna Morrigan is our Girl, she's a Wolverhampton council estate teen, who wants to be a music journalist. Taking the Bull(ring?) by the horns, she sends off her work and manages to land herself a job. Johanna leaves school in Wolverhampton for London life, but only after deciding she needs a life makeover and transforms herself into wildchild and party girl Dolly Wilde. Will this new identity serve her well?
Johanna experiments within her new identity, discovering alcohol, drugs, and sex among other things. And a note here: fairly explicit sexual scenes, though funny as hell! Her job allows her to review bands, but she writes mostly evil reviews of bands she doesn't like. Which of course will not bode well for our heroine.
The book is a series of one hilarious exploit after another. Through it all, we can see her losing herself and her direction, it flirts with darkness as we watch Johanna / Dolly being used (it is quite sad and frightening in what COULD happen to her) –she is, after all, only 17.
Back at home in Wolverhampton, Johanna's family are just as enjoyable and eccentric as we see in Moran's other writing - a possibly gay brother, a Dad who wants that ‘one’ big hit from his own music, a bolshy Mum overtired from new twins. Johanna clearly loves her family and does a lot for them, feeling responsible for them - she always remains sympathetic, despite her mistakes and ridiculous actions.
There are some particularly funny scenes (one that reminded me of Fanny Hill with a ‘large appendage’ – and doesn’t end well!), and it does feel as though the author may have structured it with another TV series in mind, it would be hilarious. I thoroughly enjoyed Johanna's misadventures, and the moral behind her adolescent's experiences.
Moran and I share a hometown, and her life there comes over as quite deprived, but she still manages to retain a slight fondness for the place, and I loved reading reference to places I also love from my own childhood. Prince Albert statue et al.
If you enjoy rude humour, lots of sexual exploits and adolescent tales of kiss-and-tell and coming of age - try Moran's fiction. She knows how to make you laugh, and how to create a flawed but sympathetic Black Country heroine.
The author begins this book by saying emphatically that this story is NOT based on her own life or character. But if you know Moran's work through Raised by Wolves or her other non-fiction work How to Be a Woman, it feels instantly familiar and a smooth continuation of the same character’s story. Sorry Caitlin, but the subjects are so close to each other, the setting and happenings so similar, it's hard not to make the comparison. But that's not to the book's detriment. I loved it.
Johanna Morrigan is our Girl, she's a Wolverhampton council estate teen, who wants to be a music journalist. Taking the Bull(ring?) by the horns, she sends off her work and manages to land herself a job. Johanna leaves school in Wolverhampton for London life, but only after deciding she needs a life makeover and transforms herself into wildchild and party girl Dolly Wilde. Will this new identity serve her well?
Johanna experiments within her new identity, discovering alcohol, drugs, and sex among other things. And a note here: fairly explicit sexual scenes, though funny as hell! Her job allows her to review bands, but she writes mostly evil reviews of bands she doesn't like. Which of course will not bode well for our heroine.
The book is a series of one hilarious exploit after another. Through it all, we can see her losing herself and her direction, it flirts with darkness as we watch Johanna / Dolly being used (it is quite sad and frightening in what COULD happen to her) –she is, after all, only 17.
Back at home in Wolverhampton, Johanna's family are just as enjoyable and eccentric as we see in Moran's other writing - a possibly gay brother, a Dad who wants that ‘one’ big hit from his own music, a bolshy Mum overtired from new twins. Johanna clearly loves her family and does a lot for them, feeling responsible for them - she always remains sympathetic, despite her mistakes and ridiculous actions.
There are some particularly funny scenes (one that reminded me of Fanny Hill with a ‘large appendage’ – and doesn’t end well!), and it does feel as though the author may have structured it with another TV series in mind, it would be hilarious. I thoroughly enjoyed Johanna's misadventures, and the moral behind her adolescent's experiences.
Moran and I share a hometown, and her life there comes over as quite deprived, but she still manages to retain a slight fondness for the place, and I loved reading reference to places I also love from my own childhood. Prince Albert statue et al.
If you enjoy rude humour, lots of sexual exploits and adolescent tales of kiss-and-tell and coming of age - try Moran's fiction. She knows how to make you laugh, and how to create a flawed but sympathetic Black Country heroine.
on 10 August 2014
Over the past few years I've seen a lot of references to Caitlin Moran on the social media feeds of some friends, and when I saw she had a novel out I was intrigued. Would this be a feminist manifesto that would improve my understanding of how my friends see the world? Well no - it's not a manifesto, but it's certainly an interesting look at the life of a teenage girl that does nothing to gloss over reality.
The narrative is reminiscent of Adrian Mole in many ways - although not a diary, the narrative is presented in the first person and presents an unfiltered view of a naive teenager, and the dynamic of the family around her. It feels honest, authentic, and although in some places uncomfortably graphic it doesn't seem like it is setting out to shock. There is one image in particular though that I worry will stay with me for some time.
I'll admit that I found the first few chapters quite hard-going, and had to really force myself to focus to get through them - I'm not really sure why, and it may have been my misplaced perception going in which was making me think I really needed to ensure I took everything in. Once I got past the early chapters though I fell completely into the rhythm of the story and flowed through the rest of the book.
What I loved the most was the subtle humour that the narration was able to add at the expense of her younger self. There's one running joke that had me giggling throughout which I really appreciated.
The narrative is reminiscent of Adrian Mole in many ways - although not a diary, the narrative is presented in the first person and presents an unfiltered view of a naive teenager, and the dynamic of the family around her. It feels honest, authentic, and although in some places uncomfortably graphic it doesn't seem like it is setting out to shock. There is one image in particular though that I worry will stay with me for some time.
I'll admit that I found the first few chapters quite hard-going, and had to really force myself to focus to get through them - I'm not really sure why, and it may have been my misplaced perception going in which was making me think I really needed to ensure I took everything in. Once I got past the early chapters though I fell completely into the rhythm of the story and flowed through the rest of the book.
What I loved the most was the subtle humour that the narration was able to add at the expense of her younger self. There's one running joke that had me giggling throughout which I really appreciated.
I've Never Been A Teenage Girl, I Never Hope to Be One; But I Can Tell You Anyhow, I'd Rather See Than Be One
TOP 500 REVIEWERon 3 February 2015
When I read the forward and preface to this book I admit I was concerned that I was about to read the earnest, heartfelt, and completely uninteresting prose/blog of a bright, sincere teenager. Boy, am I a dope, or what?
This book is, in fact, earnest, heartfelt, sincere and bright. It is also searingly funny, completely engaging, bawdy, rowdy, and brutally honest. This is not a lost-to-drugs-and-back story, or a tale of redemption after hitting bottom, or a melodrama fancied up with some new age or self-help wisdom.
It is an honest, rueful, deadpan story about growing up, spiced with exaggeration for effect, naughty bits, some cutting self examination, a few romantic touches, and lots of cheerfully lacerating observations about life, families, society, and the music business.
This only works, or at least it will only hold book length attention, if the reader can connect with some fundamentally sound aspect of the narrator. I'm not doing 300 pages of train wreck. I might do 300 hundred pages of funny train wreck. I absolutely won't go near 300 pages of poor-victim-me train wreck. Well, this author, (or, actually the character she created), can come over to my house, drink too much wine, and tell stories all night, and that will be fine by me. (Actually, the actual author can come too, since she's probably alright as well.) (By the way, the heroine's name is "Johanna Morrigan". "Morrigan" is a figure from Irish mythology and is considered the goddess of 'battle, strife, and sovereignty'. Could there possibly be a better name for this character? No. For that touch alone you should read this book.)
But this is not just an extended stand-up comedy act or a string of clever zingers hung together to look like a novel. Our heroine follows an unconventional but dramatic path to some reasonable form of enlightenment and self-invention. You know that old chestnut that all fiction is either "a stranger rides into town or a man goes on a trip"? Well, here, Johanna Morrigan definitely goes on a trip, and it may be long, strange and wild, but we all eventually end up in an unexpected and satisfying place. What a nice find.
Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.
This book is, in fact, earnest, heartfelt, sincere and bright. It is also searingly funny, completely engaging, bawdy, rowdy, and brutally honest. This is not a lost-to-drugs-and-back story, or a tale of redemption after hitting bottom, or a melodrama fancied up with some new age or self-help wisdom.
It is an honest, rueful, deadpan story about growing up, spiced with exaggeration for effect, naughty bits, some cutting self examination, a few romantic touches, and lots of cheerfully lacerating observations about life, families, society, and the music business.
This only works, or at least it will only hold book length attention, if the reader can connect with some fundamentally sound aspect of the narrator. I'm not doing 300 pages of train wreck. I might do 300 hundred pages of funny train wreck. I absolutely won't go near 300 pages of poor-victim-me train wreck. Well, this author, (or, actually the character she created), can come over to my house, drink too much wine, and tell stories all night, and that will be fine by me. (Actually, the actual author can come too, since she's probably alright as well.) (By the way, the heroine's name is "Johanna Morrigan". "Morrigan" is a figure from Irish mythology and is considered the goddess of 'battle, strife, and sovereignty'. Could there possibly be a better name for this character? No. For that touch alone you should read this book.)
But this is not just an extended stand-up comedy act or a string of clever zingers hung together to look like a novel. Our heroine follows an unconventional but dramatic path to some reasonable form of enlightenment and self-invention. You know that old chestnut that all fiction is either "a stranger rides into town or a man goes on a trip"? Well, here, Johanna Morrigan definitely goes on a trip, and it may be long, strange and wild, but we all eventually end up in an unexpected and satisfying place. What a nice find.
Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.
on 18 January 2015
I'll start by saying that this isn't a book for the faint hearted, but please don't let that put you off - I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would.
Moran is a brilliant writer. For a 'debut' novel I was very impressed, and I just loved her writing style.
Johanna/Dolly is a fantastic character, and I would love one day to find out what happens in the next chapter of her life. I could relate to her - I, too, learnt almost everything I know from books - and although my goth phase was never quite that extreme I still saw parallels between her story and my own teenage years. Aside from Johanna, her elder brother Krissi was my favourite character, and I like to think that he stayed in London permanently with Johanna after the story ended and that they took on the world together.
Caitlin demonstrates an incredibly well observed insight into the teenage mindset - with all the turbulence, uncertainly and raging hormones. The point is stressed that the novel is entirely fictional, but given the parallels with Moran's own background I can't help but wonder if there is an element of autobiography to it - it's easy to write about what you know well. It's an easy read, and I raced through it in a couple of days.
4/5 stars: Described as 'The Bell Jar written by Rizzo from Grease,' How to Build a Girl is rude, daring, and laugh out loud funny. Highly recommended.
Moran is a brilliant writer. For a 'debut' novel I was very impressed, and I just loved her writing style.
Johanna/Dolly is a fantastic character, and I would love one day to find out what happens in the next chapter of her life. I could relate to her - I, too, learnt almost everything I know from books - and although my goth phase was never quite that extreme I still saw parallels between her story and my own teenage years. Aside from Johanna, her elder brother Krissi was my favourite character, and I like to think that he stayed in London permanently with Johanna after the story ended and that they took on the world together.
Caitlin demonstrates an incredibly well observed insight into the teenage mindset - with all the turbulence, uncertainly and raging hormones. The point is stressed that the novel is entirely fictional, but given the parallels with Moran's own background I can't help but wonder if there is an element of autobiography to it - it's easy to write about what you know well. It's an easy read, and I raced through it in a couple of days.
4/5 stars: Described as 'The Bell Jar written by Rizzo from Grease,' How to Build a Girl is rude, daring, and laugh out loud funny. Highly recommended.
on 18 August 2016
I don’t know why, having been aware of the Caitlin Moran phenomenon for some time, it has taken me so long to read one of her books. I'm mentioning that because may of the reviews I have just read on Amazon declare that this book is only a poorly served rehash of Moran's non-fiction book How to be a woman, which many of the reviewers rate much, much more highly than this. so taking that into account...
I found this a fascinating insight —not into female puberty and the construction of one’s public persona (I’ve lived through that) — but into the grinding, precarious, traumatic nature of life in poverty, one step away from the breadline all the time. I’ve read lots of books about historical poverty, abject poverty, and lots of books about miserable poverty, and noble poverty, but it was utterly refreshing to read about real-life, modern, urban poverty where families still love each other, and pull together and behave like normal human beings, with all their faults and fallibilities. Yes, of course the mother is the hero of the family as usual, but that’s less a trope, and more a simple reflection of how things are, 99% of the time.
I really loved the lead character Johanna and I gained a lot from her insights… the stress of being a child taking responsibility for things way beyond their control…the hypervigilance, the belief that she can protect the family, her egocentric assumption that the family’s worsened straits are her fault. Her pitiful sexual exploitation really rang true, like so many young girls, she really did seem to think of herself as a serious of orifices for the amusement of men, and I cheered her on during her gradual realisation of her right to control and restrict the ways in which she was used (and that’s not to negate or excuse the way she used and abused the minor male characters who she used up for her sexual gratification in the way she had been taught.)
Probably because I’ve never depended on state-benefits, I didn’t see the twist coming at the end that revealed the depth of her family’s love and ambition for her, and it really caught me in the solar plexus… other readers may have seen it coming a mile-off, not me!
Highly recommended.
I found this a fascinating insight —not into female puberty and the construction of one’s public persona (I’ve lived through that) — but into the grinding, precarious, traumatic nature of life in poverty, one step away from the breadline all the time. I’ve read lots of books about historical poverty, abject poverty, and lots of books about miserable poverty, and noble poverty, but it was utterly refreshing to read about real-life, modern, urban poverty where families still love each other, and pull together and behave like normal human beings, with all their faults and fallibilities. Yes, of course the mother is the hero of the family as usual, but that’s less a trope, and more a simple reflection of how things are, 99% of the time.
I really loved the lead character Johanna and I gained a lot from her insights… the stress of being a child taking responsibility for things way beyond their control…the hypervigilance, the belief that she can protect the family, her egocentric assumption that the family’s worsened straits are her fault. Her pitiful sexual exploitation really rang true, like so many young girls, she really did seem to think of herself as a serious of orifices for the amusement of men, and I cheered her on during her gradual realisation of her right to control and restrict the ways in which she was used (and that’s not to negate or excuse the way she used and abused the minor male characters who she used up for her sexual gratification in the way she had been taught.)
Probably because I’ve never depended on state-benefits, I didn’t see the twist coming at the end that revealed the depth of her family’s love and ambition for her, and it really caught me in the solar plexus… other readers may have seen it coming a mile-off, not me!
Highly recommended.
on 6 July 2015
Some books you want to review as soon as you’ve finished them, you don’t want to wait for all the feelings and thoughts to fall out of your head. How to Make a Girl was one of these books, so I moved it to the top of my review pile (despite the fact that I still have reviews of books I read in 2014 that I need to write). Unfortunately I couldn’t actually write the review straight away, so I hope my thoughts are still clear enough.
I was excited to read something of Caitlin Moran’s after basically having a girl crush on her after reading How to Be a Woman (don’t ask me how I haven’t managed to read Moranology yet, it’s a mystery to me). I must admit though I had my doubts about How to Build a Girl, it seemed basically to be an autobiography pretending to be fiction (a bit like Stephen Fry’s Moab is my Washpot and The Liar, which I still confuse).
There are a lot of similarities between Caitlin’s life and Johanna. They both grew up in Wolverhampton. They both had Irish fathers who were once in bands but now had some sort of problem causing them pain. They both had large families. They both had early jobs writing for music magazines. They even both won awards for writing before they entered the world of work. Oh and they both had a slightly goth look.
So you can see why I was wondering how much more was based on Caitlin’s life. At times it even distracted me from the story itself, especially early on. It didn’t help that Johanna had a very similar voice to Caitlin too.
One thing I like about Moran is that she’s so forthright. She’ll say whatever she’s thinking, not worrying about embarrassing herself or others. I admire her for it. Johanna is the same. Although I think more with Johanna I didn’t want to know, maybe because for a good chunk of the book she was a teenager. In a sense I would say this is a YA book, I could certainly see myself connecting with Johanna at the beginning of the story, in some ways at least. However I can see it not being a hit with parents due to how frank it is. There’s little in there I don’t think the average teen would know, but I think it’s the way it’s put across too. I don’t really want to go into too much detail here, but if you have listened to Lily Allen’s album ‘Sheezus’ it’s a similar sort of frankness
I did really like How to Build a Girl in the end though. I loved Johanna, even if she made me cringe at times at her decisions, and at her cluelessness when she seemed so ‘grown-up’. She seemed fairly realistic, if a bit of a teenagers dream. The ending was satisfying but did seem to lead to more. Apparently there are two more books to come, which I would be interested to read too.
I was excited to read something of Caitlin Moran’s after basically having a girl crush on her after reading How to Be a Woman (don’t ask me how I haven’t managed to read Moranology yet, it’s a mystery to me). I must admit though I had my doubts about How to Build a Girl, it seemed basically to be an autobiography pretending to be fiction (a bit like Stephen Fry’s Moab is my Washpot and The Liar, which I still confuse).
There are a lot of similarities between Caitlin’s life and Johanna. They both grew up in Wolverhampton. They both had Irish fathers who were once in bands but now had some sort of problem causing them pain. They both had large families. They both had early jobs writing for music magazines. They even both won awards for writing before they entered the world of work. Oh and they both had a slightly goth look.
So you can see why I was wondering how much more was based on Caitlin’s life. At times it even distracted me from the story itself, especially early on. It didn’t help that Johanna had a very similar voice to Caitlin too.
One thing I like about Moran is that she’s so forthright. She’ll say whatever she’s thinking, not worrying about embarrassing herself or others. I admire her for it. Johanna is the same. Although I think more with Johanna I didn’t want to know, maybe because for a good chunk of the book she was a teenager. In a sense I would say this is a YA book, I could certainly see myself connecting with Johanna at the beginning of the story, in some ways at least. However I can see it not being a hit with parents due to how frank it is. There’s little in there I don’t think the average teen would know, but I think it’s the way it’s put across too. I don’t really want to go into too much detail here, but if you have listened to Lily Allen’s album ‘Sheezus’ it’s a similar sort of frankness
I did really like How to Build a Girl in the end though. I loved Johanna, even if she made me cringe at times at her decisions, and at her cluelessness when she seemed so ‘grown-up’. She seemed fairly realistic, if a bit of a teenagers dream. The ending was satisfying but did seem to lead to more. Apparently there are two more books to come, which I would be interested to read too.
